Blending in easy in `aviation state'

John-Thor Dahlburg and Lisa Getter. Special to the Tribune. John-Thor Dahlburg and Lisa Getter are staff writers for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune newspaper

There are the flight schools so numerous that Florida likes to fancy itself the "aviation state." There is the marvelously diverse, fast-changing populace, where almost anyone can blend in.

There also is the quick availability of driver's licenses and state-issued identification cards, which experts say are easier to procure than library cards. And large amounts of cash often attract far less attention here than elsewhere.

When the hijackers who crashed airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11 needed a U.S. base of operations--a place to live, learn how to operate planes and obtain documents--most chose Florida.

"It's probably the most transient place in the United States," said Robert Creighton, retired agent in charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office responsible for Florida and the Caribbean. "It's also a center for a lot of undocumented aliens."

State and federal court case files here are filled with evidence of fake passports, driver's licenses, medical licenses and even video-club cards.

`You can get lost in Florida'

"You can get lost in Florida," Creighton said.

In homes, motels, bars and airports--from Miramar northwest of Miami to Venice on the Gulf Coast--as many as 14 of the 19 Muslim men who were aboard the airliners left a trail of rental receipts, credit card slips and other evidence now being sifted through by the FBI.

In Florida, especially the areas of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, the visitors would have felt far less conspicuous than in much of the rest of the United States, said Walid Phares, professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University.

"It's Latin here. And Latin is close to Middle Eastern," said Phares, a native of Lebanon who has lived in Florida for 11 years. "We are all dark-skinned. If I walk on the streets of Miami, the first reaction of a Hispanic is to speak to me in Spanish."

South Florida is home to an estimated 30,000 Muslims, about 20,000 of whom are of non-American origin. Mosques and Islamic religious centers operate from Daytona Beach to Boca Raton.

This state is accustomed to outsiders and their comings and goings. In 2000, 71 million tourists visited Florida, according to Pam Dana, state director of tourism, trade and economic development. In that human flood, a few more young men wouldn't have been much noticed.

"It's an international crowd," said Bruce Udolf, a former federal prosecutor in South Florida. "Someone wouldn't be as conspicuous and stand out like a sore thumb like they would in Middle America."

However, it likely was Florida's status as a center of aviation instruction that was the chief lure for Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi and the other hijackers who learned how to fly here.

"We in Florida like to think we're No. 1. If we're not No. 1, we're a close second to California," said Larry McGlothlin, a consultant on aviation matters.

So many people, in fact, take flying lessons in Florida that officials have no way of counting them, said Andy Keith, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Twenty percent of America's commercial pilots earn their wings at Florida's more than 220 flying schools. And enough weekend fliers purchase instruction here to make it a $1 billion-a-year industry.

All 110 of Florida's general aviation airports offer lessons, and there are numerous training companies. Single-plane, single-instructor outfits also serve most of Florida's 600 private airstrips. Florida promotes itself heavily as a learn-to-fly destination; an estimated 27 percent of the students are from overseas.

"You get better flying weather either in the South or out in Arizona," said Amy Koranda, spokeswoman for the National Air Transportation Association, which represents flying schools and airport services.

However, temporary residency in Florida would have had at least one other dividend for terrorists: the opportunity to obtain a driver's license or photo identity card with relative ease. That would have facilitated their travel, and made them blend in even more seamlessly with American society.

Fake IDs easy to obtain

Before last Tuesday's tragedy, a Florida grand jury had been studying how to add safeguards to issuing driver's licenses. According Tom Sadaka, an assistant statewide prosecutor, Florida is the only state that accepts an immigration form, known as the I-94, as the primary piece of identification for getting a license.

"The I-94 is a totally self-reported form," meaning the foreigner, and not an immigration official, fills it out, Sadaka said. Applicants for Florida driver's licenses also are on their honor to report their correct address. During a recent visit in North Miami Beach, many people were seen getting licenses without proof of residence.

Even to get a library card in Florida, you must prove you live where you say you do.

In the state's 143 drivers license bureaus, "we can't even confirm the Social Security numbers people give us," Sadaka said.

Now, he predicted, "there is going to be much more pressure to change our system."